


It's a small world

by killerweasel



Series: It's a Small World [1]
Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2013-03-06
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:53:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerweasel/pseuds/killerweasel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lindsey finds an unexpected ally and goes on a journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a small world

Title: It's a small world  
Fandom: _Angel_  
Characters: Lindsey McDonald, Illyria  
Word Count: 1,417  
Rating: R  
A/N: AU after _Underneath_  
Warnings: N/A  
Summary: Lindsey finds an unexpected ally and goes on a journey.

 

 

“You wish to get out of here?”

I’d been working on counting the ceiling tiles in my cell again, but the voice startled me enough that I almost fell off of the cot. She must be able to move like a damn vampire, sneaking up on people like that. I got up slowly, moving towards the bars. Heard about her, but we’d never had the pleasure of chatting.

A tiny little smile crossed my face as she tilted her head to stare at me. It almost reminded me of something my old bloodhound would do when I’d talk to him. Had to be very careful here because this was a higher being and the trouble with them was not only did they know they could kill you in the blink of an eye, they wouldn’t even give you any warning before it happened. We mere mortals were beneath them. We were here simply because they permitted that to happen.

“Of course I wish to get out of here. Only trouble is, the moment I leave this building, I’m not under Captain Broody’s protection any more.”

She frowned just a little, going over what I said. “You speak of their leader, the half-breed.”

Made a mental note to call Angel a half-breed the next time I saw him, just because I knew it would piss him the hell off. Vampires weren’t real demons, more like demon wannabes. “Yeah, I’m talking about Angel. He’s the only thing keeping the Senior Partners from taking me back.”

I shifted myself closer to the bars now. She could reach through and grab me if she wanted. The little scoffing sound that came from her throat made me smile. “The Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart should tremble at the mention of my name. They are nothing compared to me.”

Well then, I guess I had myself a bit of a bodyguard now, didn’t I? “If they’re nothing to you, why don’t you kill them and take over what they have? They have whole armies under their control, not to mention world leaders, and that’s just in this world.”

Her hand lashed out faster than I thought it could, grabbing me by the throat and she slammed my face into the bars. Felt my nose break, but I made no effort to struggle. I’d fought enough with Angel to know when to hold still. If she’d wanted to kill me, I’d be dead already. “Do not speak of things you know nothing about.”

“You’d be surprised by what I know.” I knew more about the Senior Partners than anyone else, including a few of their weaknesses. Her grip loosened and I pulled away from the bars, wiping at the blood that was running down my face.

I watched as she walked over to the door of the cell and wrenched it off the hinges. “You aren’t what you used to be, are you? The body you’re trapped in limits your powers.” It had to; a human body couldn’t handle something like that without taking considerable damage over a short amount of time. Even if it adapted, she still wouldn’t be as strong as the Partners were. Not as long as she was in one of their worlds.

“This is not a host I would have chosen.”

“No shit.” She walked over to where I was, looking me over. “You remind me of a vampire I knew once. She didn’t seem to fit in here either. She knew things that people shouldn’t know, talked in riddles and puzzles, but everything had a deeper meaning. Mentioned you once, but I didn’t know it at the time.”

Those eyes of hers made a little shiver go up my spine. “Who was this? Explain.”

“Her name is Drusilla. She was sired by Angel, but only after he’d driven her insane. She stayed with me for a while a few years ago. One night I woke up to find her on my bed. She was going on about a world of shrimp, how they seemed to dance in the sky and the water just like little fish. Then she talked about how they all seemed to be moving around a blue woman. I have to assume that’s you. That’s when she started singing ‘It’s a Small World’, and I figured it was all bullshit.”

She made a motion with her hand and opened a portal in the middle of the cell. I raised my eyebrows. “What are you planning on doing with that?”

“I will show you that world.”

I blinked a couple of times before I said anything. “Is it safe for humans? We’re more fragile than you think. Hate to step into something and not be able to breathe.”

The look she gave me almost made me laugh, but I managed to keep myself under control. “It is safe for you.”

I shrugged and stepped through the portal. It was almost like when the Partners had pulled me through the ceiling except there wasn’t any pain involved this time. If she could move to just about anywhere, why was she still here? Maybe she was trapped in more ways than one.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a place that almost seemed like something out of a cartoon. There were shrimp everywhere, some the size of horses. I turned around slowly in a circle and there was a stupid smile on my face by the time I was facing her again. “Was this one of your worlds?”

“It still is.”

Even as I watched, the shrimp seemed to swarm around her. Had a feeling that if she told them I was a threat that they would do their shrimpy best to take me down. Really didn’t like the thought of being crushed under a massive pile of writhing shrimp.

“Why are you still with Angel and his friends?”

As she moved closer to me, the shrimp parted to let her through the throng. “I don’t know. What remains of the shell wishes to stay there.”

I knew I was about to cross into dangerous territory, but I was very curious now. “How much of her is left inside of you?”

She did that head tilt thing again and I swore I could almost hear the gears turning in her brain. “Memories and feelings, the rest was lost.”

“Are you sure about that? If she was gone, you wouldn’t be in that building at all. You have power, you have strength, you have other worlds, and yet... you are letting yourself be trapped there.”

Something bumped me from behind and one of the horse-sized shrimps was giving me the evil eye. Guess I must have sounded threatening. “You know Angel will use your strength to help him get what he wants and then he’ll find a way to take away what you have. That’s what he does. He uses people and discards them like garbage.”

“He wouldn’t dare.” She didn’t look so certain though.

“Angel probably has his people working on something right now. You’re a threat, a wild card. He had plans and you threw a fucking monkey wrench into them. You took someone he cared about; he doesn’t give a shit about you or anything you used to have. The only thing that matters to him is coming out on top and it doesn’t matter how many fall along the way.”

“Why are you telling this to me?”

I shrugged. “I want out of there before I wind up dead. You make the Partners very nervous. They remember you from before and they’ll do just about anything to keep you from regaining what you had. Why go back?”

“Where else would I go?”

How in the hell would I know? “You said you have other worlds. Why not check in on those, make sure they still belong to you?”

“You would come with me? Would you replace my Qwa’ha Xahn?”

“So I’d be what, your high priest or something?” It couldn’t be too much worse than being an evil lawyer. She nodded and I smiled at her. “Sure, why not?”

She opened another portal and I started to follow her, but paused. “What happened to your last one?”

“The one who cared for the shell killed him.”

Guess I didn’t have to worry about that happening any time soon. I stepped through the portal with a smile on my face. Angel would have a fit when he realized I was gone.


End file.
